Rainier sophomore Alex Salinas broke a 51-year-old school record in the 400 meters at the South Sound Classic in Puyallup Saturday, placing 13th overall and winning his heat at 50.78 seconds. The previous long-standing school record was held by Tim Hart in 1975 at 50.94 seconds.
Rainier’s top placers at Sparks Stadium were senior Zaylee Bravo, who took 10th in the discus at 112 feet, 11 inches, and freshman Courtney Eckroth, who shined in the javelin with a 10th-place finish and a personal-best throw of 111-02.
Senior Zach Hamilton set a new PR in the 1,600 meters at 4:33.39, good for fourth all-time in Rainier history and 35th at the South Sound Classic.
Yelm senior Jay Sumich took home the long jump title, recording a new PR leap of 21 feet, 10.5 inches. Two of his attempts were fouled, but the one that counted was enough to win the event. Sumich now ranks sixth in Yelm boys history in the long jump.
A convoy of Yelm runners also enjoyed career days in Puyallup. Junior Marcos Andujar put forth his all-time best performance in the 3,200 meters, running a time of 9:29.92 to place sixth and move into fourth place in boys program history.
Junior Peter Robbins, 45th at 4:37.29, and senior Ethan Stewart, 49th at 4:38.21, PRed in the boys 1,600 meters, and junior pole vaulter Caiden Carmody reached 12 feet, 6 inches, for the first time to finish 15th.
Junior Deejay Taylor also set a new PR in the 1,600 meters, finishing 12th at 5:14.85 — the third-fastest time in Yelm history for a female athlete. Senior Kailey Slevin took seventh in the 3,200 meters at a season-best time of 11:25.11.
The boys 1,600 meters came down to the wire, with two Olympia runners gunning for the title. Olympia freshman Quenton Lanese narrowly finished in second place with a PR time of 4:09.38, just .27 seconds behind champion Amin Fidaar from Rogers. Senior Caden Durocher was right behind Lanese, taking third by setting his own PR of 4:09.73.
Lanese and Durocher now rank third and fourth, respectively, in the boys 1,600 meters. Durocher also finished 39th in the 800 meters at 2:03.06.
